Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #74 *ARREST*

[DeDee]

Agree! ^^^ What/who tipped LE off that this wasn’t a “missing biker” the night she was reported missing? BM wasn’t allowed to stay in the home even the first night, iirc.

I would guess LE arriving on the Arkansas River where the ribbon was later tied onto the tree to remove the blue bike "this is not a crime scene and we won't be roping it off" is the message I get from LEs actions at the bike site.

Someone posted various questions and possible scenarios for finding her bike in that location but made no sense, even to MM2 bf.
Therefore, I give credit to LE for recognizing fishy circumstance from the beginning using combined experience, expertise and good ole Common Sense.

 

[OldCop]

From the Prelim info put together by @NoSI:
BM got reportedly “really upset” and asked the Ritters’ to call LE.
SM reportedly liked to ride her bike “up US50 and then to Fooses”.

I’ve attached 2 maps. The first shows, approximately, (I think), where they have described the location where SM’s helmet was discovered. This surprised me a bit. I always thought that it was found on the north side of Hwy 50. They have said it was west of 225 and that is where they searched when they closed the road the day after the helmet was found. At the prelim they said it was found on the south side of Hwy 50. This indicates it was likely between Hwy 50 and county rte 226. 226 parallels Hwy 50 and intersects with Rte 225.
This is easier to show than describe, but you could ride from the Morphew home to the location where the helmet was found without having to go up on the main highway at all. If it was late at night, probably no one would see you toss a helmet there.
The second map describes the route that BM gave to LE as SM’s usual bike route. This contradicts MH’s statement that SM would never bike up that way because it was too steep and that she always took her vehicle when she went for a bike ride. However, this route would have her go by the location where BM dumped her bike, er, I mean where her bike crashed.
Did anyone else see that one of the reports from the prelim noted that there was no damage to the bike, but that one of the tires was locked? Question for the WS bikers: could a tire lock accidentally during a fall or crash? Or does it have to be locked manually? Is this why LE knew right away that SM never went on a bike ride that day?

 

[Seattle1]

Yes, after he took his phone off airplane mode at 10:17pm, I think he went to hide her body. A solid reason that he would’ve backed up his truck would be to get a different vehicle out. Moo

I was looking at photos from 2015 (esp 3/24) and was reminded of the expansive facility. I don't think backing the truck is necessary to get RR out, I think it's probably to prevent somebody from coming in. MOO

7.72 acres in Chaffee County, Colorado

 

[NWLady]

Where I live, we are in the 6th lockdown: stay at home except essentials within 5 km, curfew, masks etc.
I cannot wait for part 2 of the PH, as can spend hours on new surprise findings (I expect) to nail this Creep.
Being in different time zones, makes 'keeping up' difficult.

Also interested to hear the Defence strategy continue, wasting BM's money.
At the end of this venture, this guy will be a poor man, locked away forever, and I wish to see each step towards his downfall.
Little money left for any goodies.
MOO.

I, as well as others I'm sure, are happy to have you here with us following these cases! (But I do agree, it is hard to keep up, the threads move fast!) Also, I enjoy reading your posts.

 

[NWLady]

@OldCop our timeline for Saturday
Saturday 5/9
12:02 am incoming call on SM’s phone(d)
2:07 am outgoing call on SM’s phone (d)
6:00 am BM’s phone revives call (d)
7:19 am BM’s cell receives signal
9:50 am BM text to SM: Want to go on hike?
9:52 SM to BM, Where? (No response) Later on, asking about summer tires on Range Rover
10:36 SM to BM : Wanna meet to hike?
10:48 BM: No, coming home
10:48 SM: Get hot tub stuff
11:00 am Tail Winds property (new subdivision)
11:30 am Veggie soup at home with SM
11:50 am-12:50 pm BM cell ping near river
behind house. BM said looking for turkey that daughter shot some time before.
1:38 BM left home- checked on job at Kim Gyms
1:42 pm SM text to JL: Guess who is alone again?
1:55 pm BM at DSI
2:00 pm BM getting blade replaced on Bobcat
2:03 pm SM sends sunbathing pic to JL. Last proof of life.
2:11 pm last LinkedIn message with JL
2:44 BM returned home
ETU JL sends several texts, no response
2:47 pm BM’s phone goes to airplane mode
2:44-2:47 BM moving around outside house, BM shooting chipmunks?
2:44-4:44 Truck doesn’t move
4:44 BM truck door opens/closes
4:44-9:25 pm AA pge 6 truck stays in same loc
4:00-5:30 (sometime) Defense says BM in Salida Stove and Spa (however store closes at 2 on saturdays)
5:30 pm BM truck system rebooted
9:25 pm Truck gear goes into reverse and goes back 95 feet in driveway
9:52 pm truck door closes
10:17 pm BM phone out of airplane mode

Thank you @oviedo and @OldCop for doing this! Is it possible to have this put at the beginning of each thread? I'm not sure how that works but it would be very helpful for a reference point.

 

[NWLady]

If LE could answer one question related to the case evidence, what would you most want to know?

My question would be - What, if anything, did they recover of evidentiary value regarding BM's trash dumps?

 

[NWLady]

tmar, while reading your, I paused to contemplate the treasures BM will take along with a fair yet justified sentence. There are exactly zero.

He will hopefully be placed in a cold cinder block cell made of concrete for a very long sentence.

Once, DD had a terrifying stalker episode while in college. DJ for the college's campus. Big man on campus. Via the Dean, we had him threatened with wearing concrete boots in the TX Red River if he didn't stop scary stuff and leave her alone sans formal charges and a restraining order that would ruin his permanent college record.

Where is Suzanne? For countless hours, I've traveled the routes on google earth to locate cameras, easy off ramps, perhaps to easy places to hide in the woods, visibility of waterways and lakes etal where Barry could easily access. Did Barry make Suzanne a pair of concrete boots?

Like many others, I am convinced, at this time, that the accused suffocated Suzanne, with intention, hopefully in the nicest ways, because, ya know, Barry loves her. It helps to consider SM was unconscious for an amount of time, hopefully the whole time, so that she never knew about the smothering of her life, does it really take 12 minutes, if that happened, nor would we want her to know or feel anything afterward being tranquilized.

Barry probably did the suffocating portion of the dastardly, dirty deed by standing behind her. If she was pushed off a cliff, then how could we be assured that she passed upon landing?

This reminds me of P. Frazee putting a blindfold on Kelsey for what she thought was a game to guess a candle scent, but instead beat her with a baseball bat and killed her. (I think I'm recalling this correctly but it's getting late here). Sigh.

 

[MemPat]

If I remember correctly LE put a GPS tracker on Leticia Stauch's vehicle. It wouldn't surprise me if they did the same to BM.

I've felt sure of this from the beginning. Why would they not?

 

[SouthAussie]

I've felt sure of this from the beginning. Why would they not?

When our wife-murderer, Borce Ristevski, had a police tracker secretly put on his vehicle, we think he found it and removed it. And he also used to tell people, when they spoke to him on the phone, that his calls were being monitored.

Sometimes these murderers know what is what. Perhaps especially ones who listen to true crime podcasts.


Tracking device fitted to Borce Ristevski's car removed, or fell off

Court documents obtained by 7 News have revealed Ristevski knew his phone was being tapped and warned friends and family that police officers were listening.
Revealed: Borce Ristevski's phone conversations after killing wife

 

[Cindizzi]

From the Prelim info put together by @NoSI:
BM got reportedly “really upset” and asked the Ritters’ to call LE.
SM reportedly liked to ride her bike “up US50 and then to Fooses”.

I’ve attached 2 maps. The first shows, approximately, (I think), where they have described the location where SM’s helmet was discovered. This surprised me a bit. I always thought that it was found on the north side of Hwy 50. They have said it was west of 225 and that is where they searched when they closed the road the day after the helmet was found. At the prelim they said it was found on the south side of Hwy 50. This indicates it was likely between Hwy 50 and county rte 226. 226 parallels Hwy 50 and intersects with Rte 225.
This is easier to show than describe, but you could ride from the Morphew home to the location where the helmet was found without having to go up on the main highway at all. If it was late at night, probably no one would see you toss a helmet there.
The second map describes the route that BM gave to LE as SM’s usual bike route. This contradicts MH’s statement that SM would never bike up that way because it was too steep and that she always took her vehicle when she went for a bike ride. However, this route would have her go by the location where BM dumped her bike, er, I mean where her bike crashed.
Did anyone else see that one of the reports from the prelim noted that there was no damage to the bike, but that one of the tires was locked? Question for the WS bikers: could a tire lock accidentally during a fall or crash? Or does it have to be locked manually? Is this why LE knew right away that SM never went on a bike ride that day?

Deputy Brown found the bicycle shortly after getting notified of Suzanne Missing. He immediately put on his body warn camera when he got to Highway 50 and County Road 225. Noted no blood, skidmarks, brake marks, no struggle, no damage to the bicycle.
https://twitter.com/laurenscharftv/status/1424739624082153474?s=21

The bike is navy with light blue pedals. "Something is up with the front tire," the deputy said. The deputy brought the tire back up to the county road without gloves.
https://twitter.com/laurenscharftv/status/1424742841163685897?s=21

ETA. Around 4:00 LS describes watching video from body worn camera about the brake being on.

 

[DizzyB]

From the Prelim info put together by @NoSI:
BM got reportedly “really upset” and asked the Ritters’ to call LE.
SM reportedly liked to ride her bike “up US50 and then to Fooses”.

I’ve attached 2 maps. The first shows, approximately, (I think), where they have described the location where SM’s helmet was discovered. This surprised me a bit. I always thought that it was found on the north side of Hwy 50. They have said it was west of 225 and that is where they searched when they closed the road the day after the helmet was found. At the prelim they said it was found on the south side of Hwy 50. This indicates it was likely between Hwy 50 and county rte 226. 226 parallels Hwy 50 and intersects with Rte 225.
This is easier to show than describe, but you could ride from the Morphew home to the location where the helmet was found without having to go up on the main highway at all. If it was late at night, probably no one would see you toss a helmet there.
The second map describes the route that BM gave to LE as SM’s usual bike route. This contradicts MH’s statement that SM would never bike up that way because it was too steep and that she always took her vehicle when she went for a bike ride. However, this route would have her go by the location where BM dumped her bike, er, I mean where her bike crashed.
Did anyone else see that one of the reports from the prelim noted that there was no damage to the bike, but that one of the tires was locked? Question for the WS bikers: could a tire lock accidentally during a fall or crash? Or does it have to be locked manually? Is this why LE knew right away that SM never went on a bike ride that day?

So the location where the bike was found was along the route that Barry said she biked, “up US 50 and then to Fooses”? But MH said she would not bike there because it was a “crazy climb”, and she would take her car to get to the trails she used?

 

[Kemug]

I know. All that and said evidence is the. I just hate to think about it. There does seem to be a lot of Symbolic text and actions. If BM used Deer Darts in Indiana,
I bet SM would have been aware of what they were. IMO.
Oh, I can't remember, Do we have a Deer in the Zoo?

Yep we do now, I just chased it in and slammed the gate.

 

[Kemug]

That mysterious 3.11pm - is there any chance it could be 3.11am?

 

[Tortoise]

If LE could answer one question related to the case evidence, what would you most want to know?

When did he book the hotel room.

 

[Tortoise]

That mysterious 3.11pm - is there any chance it could be 3.11am?

It's actually 2:11pm in the court tweets, and @oviedo 's timeline, while Barry was out and Suzanne was messaging JL.

 

[Scootie98]

Bringing over from past thread


It's all pretty strange
Actually it’s all pretty textbook, if you follow crime for any length of time – on this forum or elsewhere. Or just listen to others who post on this forum who have had similar relationships IRL.
There have been many comparisons of this case to the personal and criminal dynamics of the Jennifer Dulos murder case in New Canaan CT. Others have cited other case as being very similar.
We recognize a lot of the patterns of behavior in this marriage – because we have seen them before – recurrent familiar issues. ALL IMO

I think it's pretty weird Suzanne was spying on Barry
We know from the prelim that Suzanne got the spy pen to try and catch Barry in an affair. We know from SM’s sister that there had been infidelity on BM’s part back in Indiana. SM was naively hoping for a fresh start in Colorado.
Sadly, often IME, life does not change because the scenery changes. “Wherever you go, there you are?” Right?
So, perhaps SM felt he was up to his old “tricks”, never home, putting his phone into airplane mode, back on tinder
etc and she decided to catch him in the act.
Spying on Barry was an attempt to empower herself in a situation where she felt powerless. Information often equals power. ALL IMO

Their marriage was clearly on the rocks when you both start spying on each other and lose all trust in each other. Such a sad, sad situation
On this one we totally agree. The marriage was a shambles. It seems like they would both want to move on. Suzanne definitely wanted OUT. But Barry would not hear of it.
After she went missing he called her his “Angel” and said he “loved her to death”.

But, your statement really does beg the question – Why in the world would Barry want to stay in this marriage ?

Many have speculated on this. His motives seem pretty clear – especially since Suzanne ends up dead right after she indicates that she is leaving - no more forgiveness - this time is for real. Barry call the shots – even what she wears.
The Indiana house sale was on the horizon. Suzanne was pushing to get her inheritance money from her Mom, paid back to her, from the sale of the house.
And down the line.... there would be an inheritance from Gene.
Barry was only fifty years old, living a financial “house of cards” ( we will see more of this coming up in the next half of the prelim and at trial) he desperately needed her money in order to continue to live the lifestyle he was accustomed to - which was now seemingly above his means

ALL IMO

So much here to examine. I think Barry was married to the money and the secrets as much as he was to Suzanne. IOW...a divorce would have devastated him in a variety of ways...Not only the standard alimony, splitting of assets, etc...But the uncovering of any shady or illegal financial dealings....Nothing strikes more fear into Barry, imo, than would Suzanne's divorce attorney. I think that weighed on his mind. Likewise, Suzanne was "done" with the marriage by her own admission. There was no turning back on her part....and Barry was finally getting the message, I believe. She wasn't as careful with the covert communications toward the end...it doesn't seem. I would even guess, maybe she didn't care any more about hiding it...she was sick and tire...of being sick and tired. Suzanne tracking Barry, imo, was to enlighten the daughters about how both of their parents were flawed, and contributed to the split. Otherwise...she is the bad one who bailed out on "the family"...not just Barry. She saw how her side of the family had been alienated from their children...and likely didn't want that to happen to her too, which was apparently already being done by Barry.

If this article is accurate, Feb. 2020.

Suzanne met up with Libler in Feb. of 2019 in New Orleans, April of 2019 in Indiana, July of 2019 in Michigan, Oct. of 2019 in Dallas, Texas and Feb. of 2020 in Florida. Libler was planning a trip to Colorado in March of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Day one of Barry Morphew’s preliminary hearing complete in Chaffee County | FOX21 News Colorado

Strikes me as alot of travel for married individuals. There surely was suspicion on both spouses part...

 

[Scootie98]

If LE could answer one question related to the case evidence, what would you most want to know?

I want to know exactly how and when the hotel room was booked.

 

[Scootie98]

Thanks,
Maybe she wanted to go lay out and she knew MM was not home , so she grabbed MM's bedspread of blanket off her bed and took it with her outside.
The weather changes over the day. MM's IIRC was stripped from the bed. I'm not sure if it missing. I am sure she would not of had
her tennis shoes on. IMO

But what happened to the blankets & sheets that were stripped off of the bed? Were they somewhere in the house, or missing? If the latter...likely add that to the collection of articles Barry was dumping hither and yonder.

 

[Scootie98]

This honest remark by the lover indicates to me how easy it was for him to possibly risk most everything, all of his earthly belongings he had accumulated, in order to be with the love of his life, who was Suzanne Moorman.

Merci for locating the proof, Cindizzi, so now everyone knows her lover felt strong feelings for Suzanne since he was a teenager. They met at a party given at her home when Barry wasn't there. They hooked up.

Fast forward to May of 2020, I personally feel, they would have eventually "hooked up" again as their love seemed deep, long lasting, intimate and that this would have happened for Suzanne if Barry had been civil instead of being a murderer.

I can't say I agree with the happily ever after scenario. I see Suzanne getting out of the marriage as likely if not murdered...but, this guy made it quite clear that he didn't want to lose his job or his family. Those were his words. I think the affair would have continued for a time...but after Suzanne's independence....it would have ended at some point. Likely when Suzanne met someone who was readily and regularly available minus the complications and constant secrecy. That would have gotten old to a free woman, imo. This guy may have been trapped with his "gang"...but it was his gang....and he didn't want to lose it. Suzanne had managed to live in a marriage up until about the last two. She was both vulnerable and desperate....and JL benefitted from both..

 

[Scootie98]

From the Prelim info put together by @NoSI:
BM got reportedly “really upset” and asked the Ritters’ to call LE.
SM reportedly liked to ride her bike “up US50 and then to Fooses”.

I’ve attached 2 maps. The first shows, approximately, (I think), where they have described the location where SM’s helmet was discovered. This surprised me a bit. I always thought that it was found on the north side of Hwy 50. They have said it was west of 225 and that is where they searched when they closed the road the day after the helmet was found. At the prelim they said it was found on the south side of Hwy 50. This indicates it was likely between Hwy 50 and county rte 226. 226 parallels Hwy 50 and intersects with Rte 225.
This is easier to show than describe, but you could ride from the Morphew home to the location where the helmet was found without having to go up on the main highway at all. If it was late at night, probably no one would see you toss a helmet there.
The second map describes the route that BM gave to LE as SM’s usual bike route. This contradicts MH’s statement that SM would never bike up that way because it was too steep and that she always took her vehicle when she went for a bike ride. However, this route would have her go by the location where BM dumped her bike, er, I mean where her bike crashed.
Did anyone else see that one of the reports from the prelim noted that there was no damage to the bike, but that one of the tires was locked? Question for the WS bikers: could a tire lock accidentally during a fall or crash? Or does it have to be locked manually? Is this why LE knew right away that SM never went on a bike ride that day?

I doubt that LE will allow Barry to define Suzanne's normal biking routes....they will undoubtedly correlate with his dumping habits. It will, OTOH, be interesting to find out what the neighbors normally saw of Suzanne on her bike.. They would know the routes and directions to some extent.